During a conference earlier this week at Northwestern on Israel and International law, NYU law professor Samuel Estreicher presented an interesting proposal to shift the focus of the law of armed conflict toward the duties of defenders. Arguing that most of the law (or at least law interpretation) seems focused on attackers, the duties of defenders are largely free of...
This sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt by prosecutors at the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone, but it could very well work. Prosecutors want to subpoena Miss Campbell to testify over claims she was given the "large" diamond by Taylor after a 1997 dinner hosted in South Africa by former president Nelson Mandela. The one Taylor is accused of giving...
Prof. Chimene Keitner at UC-Hastings has posted a short essay in the online version of the Yale Journal of International Law criticizing the novel and influential interpretation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act proposed by Profs. Curtis Bradley and Jack Goldsmith. In a series of articles, Bradley and Goldsmith have argued that the FSIA's immunity for "foreign state[s]" should be interpreted...
Interesting article from Reuters on the growth of drone warfare under the Obama administration. One interesting note: drone attacks are being contemplated for Yemen, Somalia, and even against pirates. Also, the key explanation for the Drone Wars appears to be the legal problems created by capturing, interrogating, and detaining individuals. Some current and former counterterrorism officials say an unintended consequence of...
Last week, President Obama submitted the Treaty with Russia on Measures for the Further Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms to the U.S. Senate. Reading it is tough going, given all the technical terminology. A couple of not very profound observation: 1) Is this Treaty self-executing? For the many pro-self execution folks, the answer should be yes (look at the Supremacy Clause!)....
The young Somali captured last year in dramatic U.S. Navy operation has plea bargained himself into a minimum 27 year sentence. A Somali man has pleaded guilty in New York's court to seizing a US ship and kidnapping its captain last year. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse now faces a minimum of 27 years in prison. He is expected to be sentenced in October. Muse...
I guess this is why they need a ban on the burka in France. Stories like this make France seem decidedly more unpleasant for certain Muslims than Arizona is for illegal immigrants: France had its first case of “burka rage” at the weekend when a shopper allegedly tried to pull the veil from the face of a Muslim woman and the...
I seriously doubt it, but Richard Sher, a former Department of Justice official in the Office of Special Investigations, thinks Goldstone's apartheid-era past justifies denying Goldstone a visa to the U.S. In a letter sent to US officials, Neal Sher, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said that recently disclosed information about Goldstone’s apartheid-era rulings raised...
Well, it's a good thing he already has another job lined up, although I agree with Kevin (!) that the ICC Prosecutor is making a mistake in bringing Garzon on board. The AP reports: MADRID — The Spanish judge who became an international hero by going after Augusto Pinochet and Osama bin Laden was suspended Friday for allegedly abusing his authority...
The NYT's Scott Shane notes that "The Obama administration’s decision to authorize the killing by the Central Intelligence Agency of a terrorism suspect who is an American citizen has set off a debate over the legal and political limits of drone missile strikes...
Alan Dershowitz has never been shy to express his views, but I think he may be going a bit far here in reaction to recent stories about Judge Richard Goldstone's service to the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Goldstone was--quite literally--a hanging judge. He imposed and affirmed death sentences for more than two dozen blacks under circumstances where whites would almost...
I'm sorry, but I still find the argument that the Arizona Immigration Law violates the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination deeply unpersuasive. The fact that five U.N. special rapporteurs on human rights have weighed in here with the same analysis as Human Rights Watch doesn't convince me of much, other than that I am even less impressed...
